Display rack



G. L.. GRUBB ETAL 3,532,224

DISPLAY RACK Oct. 6, 197@ Filed June 17, 1968 56 F155 Way-@6 3,532,224 Patented Oct. 6, 1970 3,532,224 DISPLAY RACK Gary L. Grubb and Aldis Juris Leikarts, Indianapolis,

Ind., assignors, by mesne assignments, to Streater Industries, Inc., Albert Lea, Minn., a corporation of Minnesota Filed June 17, 1968, Ser. No. 737,471 Int. Cl. A47f 5/13 U.S. Cl. 211--177 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The invention relates to a display rack for the display and holding of various kinds of merchandise. The rack is lightweight and strong and can be assembled and disassembled Without tools by reason of the use of the well known bed hook fastening principle. A main feature of the invention resides in the use of two cross braces, one of which is provided with bed type hooks which are bent in a manner which prevents the hooks from working their way out of the slots in which they are inserted.

BACKGROUND' OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a display rack for the display and holding of various kinds of merchandise. More particularly, the invention relates to a display rack which is light in weight, is easy to assemble and disassemble without the aid of any tools, is inexpensive to manufacture and, when assembled, forms a strong and rigid structure.

SUMMARY A main object of the invention is to provide a lightweight display rack fabricated primarily of tubular metal parts which may be readily assembled and disassembled without the aid of any tools.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved display rack which may be shipped and stored in a knocked-down condition in relatively small, lightweight cardboard cartons.

A further object of the invention is to provide a new and improved display rack having new and improved bed hook type fastening means.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following specification, drawings and appended claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. l is an exploded perspective View of a display rack embodying the invention;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are side elevational views of the two vertically extending tubular members of the display rack;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the lower brace of the display rack which has specially formed hooks at opposite ends thereof which form a part of the invention;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the lower brace of the display rack taken at a right angle to the view shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing how a hook of the lower brace member shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 would appear when inserted in a slot of a tubular member.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawing, the illustrated display rack has a structural framework which includes a pair of tubular members 101 and 12 which are parallel to each other and extend in a generally vertical direction. Each of the members 10 and 12 is formed with a V-shaped lower portion to facilitate the standing of the rack in a self-supporting vertical position. The V-shaped portion of member 10 comprises a horizontally extending base leg 14 and an inclined leg 16. Member 12 has corresponding legs 18 and 20.

Vertical members 10 and 12 are connected at the top and bottom thereof by horizontally extending brace members 22 and 24. Brace members 22; and 24 are attached to the vertically extending members 10 and 12 with a form of fastening means known in the art as bed type hooks. Brace 22 has a pair of vertically spaced hooks 31 and 32 on the left side thereof and a pair of vertically spaced hooks 33 and 34 on the right side thereof. Brace 24 likewise has a pair of vertically spaced hooks 3S and 36 on the left side thereof and a pair of vertically spaced hooks 37 and 38 on the right side thereof.

The upper portion of vertical member 10 has a pair of vertically aligned and vertically extending slots 40 and 41 which are in mutually facing relation with a corresponding pair of slots 42 and 43 in the upper portion of vertical member 12. Slots 40` and 41 in member 10` and the counterpart slots 42 and 43 in member 12 are at the same elevational level and in a single plane which includes the axes of the upper portions of tubular members 10 and 12. The hooks 31 and 32 of ybrace member 22 are engageable respectively with the slots 40l and 41 of tubular member 10, in a common and known manner, and the hooks 33 and 34 of brace 22 are likewise engageable with the counterpart slots of tubular member 12.

The inclined leg 16 of tubular member 10l has a pair of longitudinally aligned slots 50` and 51 which are in mutually facing relation with a corresponding pair of slots 52 and 53 in the inclined leg 20 of tubular member 12. Slots 50= and 51 in inclined leg 16 and the counterpart slots 52 and 53 in the inclined leg 20j are at the same elevational level and in a single inclined plane which includes the axes of the tubular inclined legs 16 and 20.

Brace 24 is a tubularly shaped member with the ends thereof lflattened and `bent to form legs 56 and 57 which form right angles with the main axis of the brace 24. Hooks 35 to 38 are formed as depending portions of the flattened end portions 56 and 57 of brace 24 with the hooks having neck portions 60` to 64 connecting them respectively to the flattened end portions. In accordance with the invention the hooks 35 and 36 are bent at their necks 60 and 61 to form an angle relative to the left flattened end portion of brace 24 and the hooks 37 and 38 are likewise bent at their necks 62 and 63 relative to the right flattened end portion of the brace 24. Each of the hooks 35 to 38 is illustrated as forming an angle of 135 relative to the flattened end portion to which it is attached but some variance from this angle in either direction would also be satisfactory.

If the hooks 35 to 38 were not bent relative to the llattened end portions of brace 24 the construction would be entirely conventional. With the conventional construction, however, it has been found that the hooks work their way out of the slots in the inclined legs 16 and 20` when the rack is lightly loaded or unloaded. The function of the bent hooks, therefore, is to prevent the lower brace 24 from becoming unfastened from the vertical legs 10 and 12 when the rack is not sufficiently loaded to prevent this undesired effect from occurring.

In assembling the rack which comprises the two Vertically extending members 10 and 12 and the twol cross braces 22 and 24, the brace 24 is first attached to the members 10- and 12 and then the brace 22 is fastened to the members 10` and 12. Assuming; for ease of description that the brace 24 is held in the position illustrated in FIG. l, leg member 16 may be angularly displaced 45 in a counterclockwise direction relative to its axis to facilitate the insertion of hooks 35 and 36 in the slots 50 and 51. After insertion of the hooks the leg portion 16 is rotated 45 in a clockwise direction to the installed position illustrated in FIG. 1. The same procedure is then repeated for attaching brace 22 to leg portion 20 except that initially leg portion is angularly displaced 45 in a clockwise direction relative to the axis of leg portion 20.

With the members 10 and 12 having been rotated to the vertical positions illustrated in FIG. 1 after the hooks of brace 24 have been inserted in the slots of leg portions 16 and 20, the brace 22 may be attached in the usual manner to complete the assembly. An idealized description of the attaching of brace 24 to vertical members 10 and 12 has been given but, as a practical matter, a person attaching the brace 24 to the vertical members 10 and 12 will simply take these three parts in his hands and it them together in a random manner.

The environment in which the invention is most beneficial is one in which parts corresponding to the leg portions 16 and 20 are in an inclined or horizontal plane. In a vertical plane the force components are in a downwardly direction and, due to the force of gravity being most efficiently utilized, there exists the least tendency for the conventional bed hook type fastener to be worked out of the slots in which the hooks are inserted. In an inclined or horizontal plane only components of the force of gravity are present to cause the hooks to remain in their slots and there thus exists more of a tendency for the parts to become unfastened. To the present invention the bent hooks function in the usual manner to utilize the components of the force of gravity to prevent unfastening of the parts and, in addition, the bent hooks are in an effective abutting engagement with the metal surrounding the slots as indicated in FIG. 6 such that hooks cannot be drawn from the slots without an accompanying substantial angular movement of the vertical members 10 and 12. The presence of upper brace 22 prevents such angular movement and there thereby results a rigid frame structure which provides a sturdy and economical display rack.

While one embodiment of the invention is described here, it Will be understood that it is capable of modification, and that such modification, including a reversal of parts, may be made without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What we claim is:

1. A readily assembled and disassembled display rack comprising a pair of tube members laterally positioned in spaced parallel planes, said tube members having inclined portions inclined relative to a vertical plane, a pair of parallel spaced apart braces extending between said tube members and attached thereto with at least one of said braces extending between said inclined portions, said inclined portions having at least two pairs of mutually facing and longitudinally extending slots disposed in an inclined plane extending between said inclined portions, one of said braces having flat hooks at opposite ends thereof for respective engagement with said slots, each of said hooks being bent to occupy a plane extending laterally of the axis of said one of said braces which angle is also at a significant angle with said inclined plane when said brace having said hooks is in its installed position whereby said one of said braces is retained in its installed position so long as said tube members are in said spaced parallel planes.

2. A display rack according to claim 1 wherein said pairs of slots are at the same elevation relative to each other.

3. A display rack according to claim 1 wherein said brace is tubular and has flattened end portions forming said hooks.

4. A display rack according to claim 1 wherein said hooks form an angle of with said plane.

5. A display rack according to claim 1 wherein said hooks are of the bed hook type.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1965 Story 211-177 X 5/1967 Spiegl et al. 211-177 U.S. C1. X.R. 

